Chapter XIV.

St. Ambrose explains that the flesh given to Satan for
destruction is eaten by the serpent when the soul is set free from
carnal desires. He gives, therefore, various rules for guarding
the senses, points out the snares laid for us by means of pleasures,
and exhorts his hearers not to fear the destruction of the flesh by the
serpent.

68. The serpent
eats this dust, if the Lord Jesus is favourable to us, that our spirit
may not sympathize with the weakness of the flesh, nor be set on fire
by the vapours of the flesh and the heat of our members.
“It is better to marry than to burn,”301730171 Cor. vii. 9; Prov. vi. 27. for there is a flame which burns
within. Let us not then suffer this fire to approach the bosom of
our minds and the depths of our hearts, lest we burn up the covering of
our inmost hearts, and lest the devouring fire of lust consume this
outward garment of the soul and its fleshy veil, but let us pass
through the fire.30183018Isa. xliii. 2. And
should any one fall into the fire of love let him leap over it and pass
forth; let him not bind to himself adulterous lust with the bands of
thoughts, let him not tie knots around himself by the fastenings of
continual reflection, let him not too often turn his attention to the
form of a harlot, and let not a maiden lift her eyes to the countenance
of a youth. And if by chance she has looked and is caught, how
much more will she be entangled if she gazes with curiosity.

69. Let custom itself teach us. A woman
covers her face with a veil for this reason, that in public her modesty
may be safe. That her face may not easily meet the gaze of a
youth, let her be covered with the nuptial veil, so that not even in
chance meetings she might be exposed to the wounding of another or of
herself, though the wound of either were indeed hers. But if she
cover her head with a veil that she may not accidentally see or be seen
(for when the head is veiled the face is hidden), how much more ought
she to cover herself with the veil of modesty, so as even in public to
have her own secret place.

70. But granted that the eye has fallen upon
another, at least let not the inward affection follow. For to
have seen is no sin, but one must be careful that it be not the source
of sin. The bodily eye sees, but let the eye of the heart be
closed; let modesty of mind remain. We have a Lord Who is both
strict and indulgent. The prophet indeed said: “Look
not upon the beauty of a woman that is all harlot.”30193019 Possibly from
Prov. v. condensed. But the Lord said:
“Whoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart.”30203020 S. Matt. v. 28. He does not say, “Whosoever
shall look hath committed adultery,” but “Whosoever shall
look on her to lust after her.” He condemned not the look
but sought out the inward affection. But that modesty is
praiseworthy
341which has so
accustomed itself to close the bodily eyes as often not to see what we
really behold. For we seem to behold with the bodily sight
whatever meets us; but if there be not joined to this any attention of
the mind, the sight also, according to what is usual in the body, fades
away, so that in reality we see rather with the mind than with the
body.

71. And if the flesh has seen the flame, let us
not cherish that flame in our bosoms, that is, in the depths of the
heart and the inward part of the mind. Let us not instil this
fire into our bones, let us not bind bonds upon ourselves, let us not
join in conversation with such as may be the cause to us of unholy
fires. The speech of a maiden is a snare to a youth, the words of
a youth are the bonds of love.

72. Joseph saw the fire when the woman eager
for adultery spoke to him.30213021Gen. xxxix. 7. She wished
to catch him with her words. She set the snares of her lips, but
was not able to capture the chaste man. For the voice of modesty,
the voice of gravity, the rein of caution, the care for integrity, the
discipline of chastity, loosed the woman’s chains. So that
unchaste person could not entangle him in her meshes. She laid
her hand upon him; she caught his garment, that she might tighten the
noose around him. The words of a lascivious woman are the snares
of lust, and her hands the bonds of love; but the chaste mind could not
be taken either by snares or by bonds. The garment was cast off,
the bonds were loosed, and because he did not admit the fire into the
bosom of his mind, his body was not burnt.

73. You see, then, that our mind is the
cause of our guilt. And so the flesh is innocent, but is often
the minister of sin. Let not, then, desire of beauty overcome
you. Many nets and many snares are spread by the devil. The
look of a harlot is the snare of him who loves her. Our own eyes
are nets to us, wherefore it is written: “Be not taken with
thine eyes.”30223022Prov. vi. 25. So, then,
we spread nets for ourselves in which we are entangled and
hampered. We bind chains on ourselves, as we read:
“For every one is bound with the chains of his own
sins.”30233023Prov. vi. 2 [LXX.] very loosely.

74. Let us then pass through the fires of
youth and the glow of early years; let us pass through the waters, let
us not remain therein, lest the deep floods shut us in. Let us
rather pass over, that we too may say: “Our soul has passed
over the stream,”30243024Ps. cxxiv.
[cxxiii.] 4. for he who has
passed over is safe. And lastly, the Lord speaks thus:
“If thou pass through the water, I am with thee, the rivers shall
not overflow thee.”30253025Isa. xliii. 2. And the
prophet says: “I have seen the wicked exalted above the
cedars of Libanus, and I passed by, and lo, he was not.”
Pass by things of this world, and you will see that the high places of
the wicked have fallen. Moses, too, passing by things of this
world, saw a great sight and said: “I will turn aside and
see this great sight,”30263026Ex. iii. 3. for had he been
held by the fleeting pleasures of this world he would not have seen so
great a mystery.

75. Let us also pass over this fire of lust,
fearing which Paul—but fearing for us, inasmuch as by buffeting
his body he had come no longer to fear for himself—says to
us: “Flee fornication.”302730271 Cor. vi. 18. Let us then flee it as though
following us, though indeed it follows not behind us, but within our
very selves. Let us then diligently take heed lest while we are
fleeing from it we carry it with ourselves. For we wish for the
most part to flee, but if we do not wholly cast it out of our mind, we
rather take it up than forsake it. Let us then spring over it,
lest it be said to us: “Walk ye in the flame of your fire,
which ye have kindled for yourselves.”30283028Isa. l. 11. For as he who “takes fire
into his bosom burns his clothes,”30293029Prov. vi. 27.
so he who walks upon fiery coals must of necessity burn his feet, as it
is written: “Can one walk upon coals of fire and not burn
his feet?”30303030Prov. vi. 28.

76. This fire is dangerous, let us then not
feed it with the fuel of luxury. Lust is fed by feastings,
nourished by delicacies, kindled by wine, and inflamed by
drunkenness. Still more dangerous than these are the incentives
of words, which intoxicate the mind as it were with a kind of wine of
the vine of Sodom. Let us be on our guard against abundance of
this wine, for when the flesh is intoxicated the mind totters, the
heart wavers, the heart is carried to and fro. And so with regard
to each that precept is useful wherein Timothy is warned:
“Drink a little wine because of thy frequent
infirmities.”303130311 Tim. v. 23. When the
body is heated, it excites the glow of the mind; when the flesh is
chilled with the cold of disease the spirit is chilled; when the body
is in pain, the mind is sad, but the sadness shall become
joy.

77. Do not then fear if your flesh be eaten away,
the soul is not consumed. And so
342David says that he does not fear, because
the enemy were eating up his flesh but not his soul, as we read:
“When evil-doers come near upon me to eat up my flesh, my foes
who trouble me, they were weakened and fell.”30323032Ps. xxvii. 2. So the serpent works overthrow for
himself alone, therefore is he who has been injured by the serpent
given over to the serpent that he may raise up again him whom he cast
down, and the overthrow of the serpent may be the raising again of the
man. And Scripture testifies that Satan is the author of this
bodily suffering and weakness of the flesh, where Paul says:
“There was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted.”303330332 Cor. xii. 7. So Paul learned to heal even as
he himself had been made whole.